Echo
by Singe
Summary: Because no matter the world, there is only ever one true Kamui. And Subaru somehow has always been just out of reach. A vampire twins drabble with a twist.


Author's Notes: So I should be getting ready for finals, or doing laundry, or working on some of the other fics that I have sitting around (such as the next chapter of a certain Tsubasa fic featuring a kitty demigod Fai…) but I really just felt like posting and this has been sitting around on my hard drive for a while, so I figured might as well post it.

As such, this has not been heavily proofread, so feel free to point out any grammar/spelling mistakes that pop up.

This fic will eventually be a series of random pairing/introspective drabbles writing at odd times over the course of several months. That about sums this up. Some of the background timelines may be messed up since it's been a while since I read the chapters…but just go with it, or correct me if it really bothers you.

Either way...review, please.

Disclaimer: Don't own the series, characters, series plot, or any of the random pretty boys that may or may not appear.

Title: Echo  
Chapter: When You Wake  
Character Focus: Kamui, Subaru  
Author: Singe

0O0O0O0O0

Because even in this life, in this world where he was his twin, even when the two were so irrevocably bonded as vampires, Kamui could never quite reach Subaru. This was not the Sumeragi Subaru who had suffered so much at the hands of the one he loved the most. This was not the boy who had lost his twin sister in her attempt to save him. This was not the Subaru who had killed the Sakurazukamori only to betray the Seals and take the dead man's title and position within the Angels.

But this was the same Kamui.

The same Kamui who had watched his best friend kill countless people, some he could put a name to and many more that he could not. This was the same Kamui had found solace in Sumeragi Subaru in the nights where the impending end of humanity was just too much to handle by himself. He was the one who had watched the onmyouji fall completely apart and been unable to do anything, unable to help, unable to stop him from walking away.

True, he had been reborn. Even truer still, he had not remembered for years upon years the events that had occurred in the first life in which he had met Subaru. It was not until a few months into Subaru's incarceration under the Diet building in the decimated version of Tokyo they had somehow ended up in, that Kamui began to dream of what had once been. Ironically, it had not been the faces of the Seals who had started at him from the other side of the battlefield, it had not been the Fuuma in this world who constantly challenged him and had immediately set off alternating feelings of unease and nostalgia the first time they had crossed paths. No, it had been Kakyo who had awoken the memories.

Something about the blond haired man had simply registered with Kamui from the moment he happened to see those golden eyes. It had been a few days into his stay in the Diet building when the two first happened to cross paths. That very night, he had dreamed of a beach and raucous feminine laughter. When he awoke the next morning, all he could remember of the dream was a single image: a younger Subaru and a twin who was definitely not himself. It was accompanied with the thought that he had never seen _his_ Subaru look so happy.

The dreams subsided for months and he had written the singularly odd vision that he had experience off as just missing his usual partner. And then Kamui had started worrying about how long they had remained in this world. He began to wonder how much closer thatman was getting to them as day after day passed and there were still no signs of Subaru awakening. And as the worry increased day by day, the dreams slowly formed in his head. Dreams of sakura petals and blood and a Subaru who sometime looked older and sometimes younger than the one who had been in Kamui's life as long as he could remember. Time continued to pass, and the dreams became more frequent and more coherent, until one day he opened his eyes and the pieces all came crashing together as Kamui stared at the bland ceiling above his bed.

He had not known what to do, what to think. He wanted, _needed_ to talk to Subaru, needed to know if the other knew, if the other remembered. He needed to know if this was the same Subaru or if he really was just a reflection of the Sumeragi he had known. The last of Kamui's dreams had been of his own death amid the ruins of Tokyo Tower, Fuuma's bleeding form lying not far away from Kamui's own. And then there had been a warm, golden glow surrounding him and a voiced whispering from what felt like inside of him, asking, demanding he decide what it is he most wanted now.

He had answered he just wanted to be happy; to live with the one person he knew would always be able to make him feel human again. And the next time he opened his eyes, he could remember nothing of Tokyo, or the End of the World, or any of the people that had been in his life. All he knew was his brother, Subaru, and just how important it was that the two of them remained together, no matter what.

And they had, until now.

So he remained in this world so like the one he had known so well in another life, and spent day after day watching the water, waiting, wondering, hoping that today Subaru would awaken. And now that he remembered everything, Kamui's worry had increased exponentially. Because it was not just any hunter tracking them; no, it was some form of Sakurazuka Seishiro hunting Subaru.

And past life experience told Kamui that the man always got whatever he wanted from Subaru. Always. But this time, Subaru was his to protect. So maybe, just maybe, for once he could save this one most important person.

Then those children had come, travelers from another world much like himself, but there was something distinctly off about all of them. Despite his best efforts, though, he could not place the feeling besides the fact that the young boy was some kind of subhuman. From there, things had begun to fall apart rapidly, and the next thing he knew, Kamui was facing off against the Bait in the water surrounding Subaru's resting place, only to discover the boy fought with a disturbingly familiar style. It was a style distinctly reminiscent of a certain hunter.

It had both enraged and terrified him that someone, _something _in connection to that bastard was here, was this close to Subaru. He had known enough to be certain the primary reason the five of them were in Tokyo for a reason related to the girl of the group. But at the time, he had not known what other motivations this Bait could have or just what bond he shared with Seishiro.

There was a fight, an intervention by the blond mage, then another fight in which the mage lost his eye, and then a second intervention by the dark haired swordsman in an attempt to save his companion. And then, suddenly Subaru was there, awake, alive…well, as alive as anyone can technically be when an immortal leech. But Subaru's eyes were open and he was moving, and despite the chaos around him, despite the pained look in his twin's eyes, Kamui had never been more at peace.

Because Subaru, his Subaru was back, for whatever reason. And to keep them together, all he had to do was make certain that damned hunter never was able to find them again.


End file.
